Official site for the high/dark fantasy books of authors Barb Hendee and J. C. Hendee, including the Noble Dead Saga (a.k.a. The Noble Dead series), the Mist-Torn Witches series, the Vampire Memories series, and TNDS: Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.

It has been a while since we did an update on “Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.” Time for a little catch-up on this and a few other Noble Dead related topics. As previously mentioned before S3B2: The Dog in the Dark hit the shelves, we told our publisher we would not release any “tale” during the month before (and after) the release date of a new book in the saga. As we near the end of that window, here is what is coming…

First up, everyone remember that Barb has a new separate series starting this coming May. Both that series and its first volume are titled The Mist-Torn Witches. It is set in Droevinka within the world of the Noble Dead but has no connection to the saga. It is an entirely new autonomous series in a dark, dank land where two sisters, Céline and Amelie Fawe, must survive among noble houses always vying for control of the rotating throne of the Grand Prince. Subterfuge, mystery, and shifting alliances abound!

Both Barb and J.C. are hard at work on new “tales.” Both are starting new “sequences” in this overall project of ebook-only short works released directly from us. The next one is coming soon with more to follow, so stay watchful.

Barb has closed out (for now) the “Homeward” sequence, the last of which was HW5: The Reluctant Guardian. We are not saying there will be no more works in this sequence, but it is time to expand in new directions.

Coming mid-February is PZ1: A Forgotten Curse by Barb, the first tale in a new sequence called “Puzzles.” We cannot tell you much more at this time, and J.C. has yet to start composing a cover for this work. It is set in the land of Droevinka and involves several intriguing minor characters left behind in S1B3: Sister of the Dead.

J.C. also begins a new sequence called “Tales of Misbelief” with a first entry titled MB1:Then and Forever. It will appeal to those who favor tales of the undead, though not necessarily a type previously encountered in our works. Set in the far past well beyond the saga’s beginning, and in the great desert of a pre-Suman Empire, you will encounter new characters and events never presented before.

As to the “Bones of the Earth” sequence, the next tale titled BE3: Karras the Nameless comes later this spring. Even now, J.C. is working in spare time on this final entry in Karras’ current plight within the world of the Rughir, or dwarves.

And as one further twist… both coming first works in new sequences are told in first-person, deeply immersed in the main character’s nature and point of view. No, we did not plan it that way, honestly. We have been working separately and only discovered this happenstance one evening when Barb passed off her tale to J.C. for review. (Yes, we work on each other’s stuff, and she is the much faster drafter between us.)

It might seem odd that we both chose the same POV shift at the same time without knowing so. We have had this kind sudden synchronicity too many times in our lives together, so we just laugh about it.